Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)

Citation: Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)
Parent Document: Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 2005-10-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1472683/douglas-v-kriegsfeld-corp/ ↗

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*1124 The threshold question, then, is whether the letter of February 20, 2002 from tenant's counsel to landlord's counsel was specific enough to be a "request" that imposed a duty on the landlord to respond. We believe it was. In the interest of expediting the matter, counsel for the tenant should have stated the request for accommodation with greater specificity in his letter of February 20, which did not expressly mention a stay of the proceedings or spell out a plan for cleaning the apartment. That letter, however, did not lack detail. The landlord was informed that the tenant suffered from a "mood disorder," was "on SSI disability," had a D.C. government "case worker," and was an "outpatient at a city-operated mental health/substance abuse clinic." Of particular significance, counsel also told the landlord that the D.C. government was "prepared to assist" in achieving a "reasonable accommodation." Counsel's letter did not make clear exactly what kind of accommodation the tenant was seeking or precisely how the D.C. government would help in making the accommodation reasonable. But in the context of this pending action for possession, a jury reasonably could find from the evidence of record that, as early as February 20, 2002, a request for a stay was implicit; and in the circumstances of a filthy apartment, a jury reasonably could find that, as of that same February date, the reference to the D.C. government suggested that the government would help with the cleaning.

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